Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group lowered its position in Visa by 6.3% in Q4, selling 311,488 shares and finishing the quarter with 4,634,362 shares valued at about $1.625 billion (Visa is its 20th-largest holding).
• Visa beat quarterly expectations with $3.31 EPS (vs. $3.10) and $11.23 billion in revenue (up 17.1% YoY), and its board approved a $20 billion share buyback while declaring a $0.67 quarterly dividend.
• Insider activity included CEO Ryan McInerney selling 31,455 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan for roughly $10.7 million, a transaction that reduced his stake by about 67.5%.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,634,362 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 311,488 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Visa worth $1,625,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Visa by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,253,224,000 after purchasing an additional 399,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,067,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on V. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.25.

Key Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa announced a global, multi‑year partnership with Electronic Arts to build in‑game experiences and rewards with EA SPORTS — a move that extends Visa’s payments footprint into gaming and consumer engagement, potentially opening new transaction volume and marketing channels. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Visa is expanding its Agentic Ready AI‑commerce program across APAC and LATAM and added five blockchains to its stablecoin settlement pilot, broadening agent‑initiated commerce and multi‑chain settlement capabilities — strategic moves into next‑gen payment rails and AI‑driven transactions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Visa launched Visa Destinations in Asia Pacific (Thailand first, Singapore to follow), expanding experience‑led travel offers that can drive cross‑border and premium spend by cardholders. This supports higher TPV potential in resilient travel markets. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyses and features (e.g., WSJ) note Visa’s consistent adaptation — turning AI and stablecoins from threats into opportunities — which reinforces confidence in Visa’s durable business model and margin profile. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer coverage lists Visa business cards among top offers — helpful for brand/consumer visibility but not a material near‑term earnings driver. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry reporting on payment networks’ preparations for agentic commerce explains the technical progress but doesn’t change near‑term financials; it supports the strategic narrative around Visa’s AI efforts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons to peers (e.g., WEX vs. V) and weekly market wrap pieces place Visa in context for value investors but offer mixed buy/sell signals depending on valuation views. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Stablecoin startup Rain — which previously worked with Visa — is now partnering with Mastercard to issue cards for institutional customers, signaling competitive moves in the stablecoin‑card space that could pressure some prospective Visa relationships. Read More.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $326.46 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $592.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $310.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.15.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Visa announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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